Doctor Who (TV Series) The Power of Three (2012) User Reviews

An atypical Episode

[stomper131313 · 8/10 · 7 February 2013]

The typical DW episode goes something like this: the TARDIS lands in a place where there is or might be a problem (be it Skaro, Earth, Traken, Gallifrey or Sarn), Doctor runs about getting chased by both sides while learning about the problem, Doctor solves problem while possibly rescuing, gaining, or losing companions or all of the previous. Doctor rides off into the sunset in the TARDIS.

Not so here. In this episode we find out what happens if the Doctor is forced to remain in one place to monitor an ongoing situation/problem. And that is he would go bonkers! That's the premise here. Earth wakes up to find millions, billions or even trillions of identical black cubes all over the place. In typical fashion, the cubes get assimilated into human's lives. Cue the Doctor moving in with Amy and Rory. In no time, the Doctor is stir crazy and goes wandering off leaving Amy, Rory, and Brian (along with UNIT scientist Kate) to deal with the cubes After visiting the court of King Henry VIII, and the opening of the Savoy, the Doctor returns in time to see the cubes activate (and in a bizarre twist, one of the cubes plays a song not associated with DW).

Of course, the Doctor wins out and saves the day in the end. Therein is one of the major problems with the episode for me. It was like the writer said "uh oh, I'm up to page 48 and I promised Moffat I'd bring it in at no more than 55 pages" and just pounded out the whole duex ex machina solution of the cubes/The Shakri/The Tally of waving the sonic screwdriver around and having the cubes work for the Doctor.

What worked for me, though, was the editing which hearkens the Doctor back to a time when he was a bit more manic, as it were. Matt Smith gets to show off his football (soccer) skills, ala "The Lodger". But for me (and probably many Who fans that started out by watching Classic Who) was the reveal that Kate Stewart is in fact Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, daughter of the Briagdier. The interaction between the characters was wonderful and I'm hoping that she becomes at least a semi-regular.

The actual ending ending, I'm sure, made some fans tear up as the Doctor promises, "Not, them Brian" while we know full well that the next episode is "TATM" and Amy and Rory Williams are destined to die.

A thoroughly enjoyable episode (for me) that I rank as in the top 2 or 3 of the first part of series 7

Nicely paced... until the rushed ending

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 23 September 2012]

Having leaked the fact that the Ponds would be leaving the series long before this season even began the writers are clearly preparing us for their departure with this episode's prologue which featured a brief flashes from various adventures Amy had with The Doctor while Amy and Rory discuss whether they should continue their occasional adventures with The Doctor or settle down to ordinary lives on Earth. The story proper begins with the appearance of millions of small black cubes; nobody knows what they are or where they came from; they just appeared one morning all around the world. There arrival also heralds the return of The Doctor; who unusually has no idea what the cubes are either. As time passes people stop worrying about them; then a year after their arrival they activate; each one doing something different. Then, when they have finished doing whatever they intended they shut down. Shortly afterwards they all displayed the number seven; a countdown had begun and when it got to zero bad things would start to happen!

After the slightly unnecessary preamble this episode got off to a great start; the fact that the cubes did nothing just seemed to make them even more sinister than if they had activated immediately. Seeing the Ponds' ordinary lives during that year nicely hinted that they would just opt to stay on Earth but a conversation between The Doctor and Rory's father ominously reminded us that not all of the his companions get to live out normal lives; some are left behind and a few don't survive... the Doctor's assurance that there was no way this would happen to the Ponds just served to make me more concerned about them! The return of UNIT, now led by the Brigadier's daughter Kate Stewart was welcome. Unfortunately the episode had some fairly serious flaws too; the worst being the ending; the run up felt like a great start to a two part story... the problem was there weren't two parts and in the final minutes The Doctor just seemed to wave his sonic screwdriver around and suddenly all was right with the world again! Less serious but I couldn't see the point of the Alan Sugar cameo; it just felt as if somebody had found he was up for an appearance so they shoehorned him in. Overall I did enjoy this but felt it could have been so much better if it had been a two-parter.

The sloowwwwwww invasion.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 8 September 2015]

Amy and Rory step back from life with the Doctor and realise they've become part of his world, they choose to take the Doctor into their world, domesticity ends when little black boxes begin appearing.

Rory's dad Brian once again adds a bit of humour. I did like Brian, the series has been run by mums, nice to have a dad for a change. Brian's log hahaha. He more then makes up for Amy and Rory's move towards dullness.

I like that it's an invasion of Earth story, feels like an age since there was an invasion story. I loved Kate Lethbridge Stewart, I was surprised it was Moffat that made more of UNIT then Davies ever did, but I applaud him for it.

It feels a bit like a slip back to a few years ago, we have cameos from Prof Brian Cox and Lord Sugar, we have Sophie Raworth on a BBC news update.

I like the square mouthed evil medics, they are very creepy. I did not like the Shakri at all, big fan of Steven Berkoff, but it could have been anyone.

The big thing that's missing from this story is Jon Pertwee, it somehow feels right for his Doctor.

As an adventure it sucks, there isn't much of a plot, in terms of everything else it's really good. I think The Doctor and Amy share some great moments together, feels like a while since that's happened. Some material feels a little recycled, a portal to another dimension in a lift, wait when was Closing Time? The solution is possibly the worst ever.

Better then average, just. 6/10

If Life Were Only Moments

[boblipton · 9/10 · 22 September 2012]

"In medias res" is Latin for "In the middle of things" and it describes how classical drama begins. Oedipus enters Thebes during the plague and the story proceeds from there. There are technical reasons why classical drama did this, mostly because the events of the play took place in the same time as the play itself -- the Unity of Time. There were no flashbacks or cuts.

It's also usually the way a Doctor Who story takes place. The Doctor is called in because an invasion is taking place or drops in on a spaceship to find it is about to be blown up and its cargo of dinosaurs will be destroyed. There is no unity of time. Time is usually composed of moments. Not in this episode.

Chris Chibnall has written a brilliantly different episodes that gives the audience an idea of how the Doctor sees the world: as a collection of discrete moments that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. He drops in occasionally on Amy and Rory to discover that their everyday life is forming a gestalt that excludes the Doctor. He is becoming an occasional intruder and we can see the true end of their journeying with him.

As a meditation on Doctor Who, this is a brilliant piece of work. The occasional fan or newcomer should be amused by Matt Smith's eccentric portrayal. The long term fan will enjoy the fun and also recognize how the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

Great episode until the ending

[SkyeSpixru · 16 November 2019]

I use to love this episode so much, but I realised why I did: the first part is great, the relationship with the Doctor, Amy and Rory developing and being seen from a different perspective is very interesting. The concept of the cubes invading Earth is actually pretty good, it's a great setup for an episode, but the ending is awful. The villain is very bad, the conflict is very rushed. This is a great episode in terms of character, but the story of the episode itself needed a better resolution, because the setup was pretty solid. Even if it has its flaws, it's one of the best Chibnall episode, especially after the awful season 11

The Power of Three

[MrFilmAndTelevisionShow · 8/10 · 11 April 2021]

This was definitely a different episode and it was a good, I didn't like it as much as a "classic" style Doctor Who episode but that sounds harsh as I did very much enjoy it still. I just feel like the cubes were defeated a little too easilly. They were suddenly a big threat and then the Doctor got rid of them in what felt like all of about four seconds.

The power is underwhelming

[dkiliane · 7/10 · 30 March 2019]

And here we have yet another middle of the road quality kind of episode from Chris Chibnall, which unfortunately, seems to be par for the course with him. While, admittedly, at times he can surprise us with some strong Doctor Who, this episode is not one of those occasions.

The first act, while containing some genuinely humorous moments, feels like it drags a little as the Doctor, Amy, and Rory (and the audience) wait for any of the thousands or possibly millions of seemingly innocuous black cubes that suddenly appeared without explanation to do something. The second act is a bit more intriguing as the cubes finally DO SOMETHING and we can try to figure out their meaning as they investigate. Plus, we're treated to a neat and updated take on UNIT, a Doctor Who mainstay since the classic series.

Unfortunately, the first two acts take so long that the third act is completely rushed and we barely even glimpse the villain behind it all before their rather lame and inevitable defeat by the Doctor. This, much to Whovian chagrin, becomes a staple of Chris Chibnall's writing (more on that when we get to season 11).

So while the episode contains many entertaining moments, the episode suffers quite a bit from the pacing being all over the place (another weakness of Chibnall's writing). The episode either needed to be a two-parter allowing for a much more fleshed out development and confrontation with the villain; or it needed to sacrifice some of the pointless waiting of the first act to successfully fit all the events into a single episode without rushing the climax. Either one would be preferable to what we got here. 7/10

A feel-good episode that takes its time to do something different

[pjgs200 · 9/10 · 14 September 2017]

When I first watched the Power of Three a few years ago, I never thought much of it. It's a more of a low-key episode than the other blockbuster-style stories this series like Asylum of the Daleks or Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, but in my opinion it's much better than people give it credit for. One of the reasons I liked Doctor Who when I first started watching in series 1 was how human the show felt. Sure, it's filled with bizarre concepts, and it has alien invasions every other episode and a time traveling box that's bigger on the inside, but at the end of almost every episode you just felt great. In a show about aliens and time travel, it's remarkable that the thing I liked most about it was its grounded and optimistic representation of humanity and life in general. In the past few series, I feel like Doctor Who has been missing that aspect- the main characters don't really have a family or a life away from the Doctor, so it hasn't felt as familiar as it did in the RTD era. I love how in Chris Chibnall's two episodes this series (and his prequels and mini-episodes), he has brought that back by giving our main characters a more developed life at home and a family member who we haven't seen before, Brian. While I don't think Brian is a good of a character as Wilfred from series 4, that's probably because he's only been in two episodes.

Across it's running time, the Power of Three presents us with one of the most intriguing mysteries I can remember seeing in a Doctor Who episode: a huge-scale invasion of cubes that don't do anything until a year or two after they arrive. Unfortunately, the plot involving the cubes is never really explored very much and the ending with the Shakri is really rushed, but that's not the point of the episode. What I like most about The Power of Three is how it focuses on the characters and their relationships with each other, instead of doing what every other episode does and only focus on the plot with a few character moments thrown in at the end. The standout sequence of this installment is when the Doctor and Amy sit down outside of the Tower of London to talk- no action, no aliens, just dialogue. I loved how that moment in particular took it's time to slow down from all of the action and commotion in the middle of the episode and just explore our characters in such a simple, yet effective way. That scene sums up everything I like about the Pond's relationship with the Doctor, and it demonstrates that Chris Chibnall has a near perfect interpretation about what effect traveling with the Doctor has on his companions. The dialogue was crafted with such elegance and simplicity that it's almost impossible not to love that sequence, and coupled with Murray Gold's beautiful score, it really shows us that not every episode has to be all action, all the time to be utterly fantastic. I also loved the abundance of special effects and on-screen cues for the date in this episode- something that sets The Power of Three apart from everything else this series.

Part of me wants to give this episode an all out 10/10 for its format-busting experimental nature and beautiful dialogue, but the rushed final 10 minutes prevent this episode from reaching a perfect score. I'm still giving The Power of Three a very high rating though, because the absolutely brilliant first 30 minutes more than make up for the rushed final minutes of the episode.

Overall, the Power of Three is a fantastic mix of humor, emotion, and intriguing mystery that steps away from the traditional episode style and leaves you feeling great. I'd love to see much more of this in the future, and I have very high hopes and expectations for Chris Chibnall's era of Doctor Who in the years to come. 9/10

28 June 2016

Elements Of Russel T Davies Era

[jbullivant · 9/10 · 7 January 2018]

The Power of Thre e is definetly an underated episode. The Power of Three is actually really good, purley because it is not over complicated like most of Moffats episodes. I find that having too complicated a story can often take the enjoyment out of the episode, because you are constantly trying to work out why things are happening. This is very often the case with any episodses written by Moffat. This episode is not the case. It explores elements which Moffat has never really explored in his episodes; familly life and life without the Doctor. It is very much like a Russel T Davies episode, as it is much more accessible to younger veiwers. The plot itself is very origanal, but is a little rushed towards the ending. However, if the BBC would give Doctor Who an hour slot the ending would be perfect. Also it is much more enjoyable than the rest of the episodes in series, also the characterisation and dialoge is spot on!

The Power of Anticlimax

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 8/10 · 11 February 2019]

The majority of this story is intriguing, suspenseful, fun, well filmed, well acted and interestingly written with some great scenes. With an exciting and inventive climax and a substantial villain facing off against the Doctor this would probably have been a brilliant 10/10 episode but sadly the climactic scenes are a real disappointment for me.

After all the strong build up the alien threat turns out to be a pretty unimpressive and unexciting one that inexplicably allow the Doctor access to their technology and the Doctor very easily defeats the threat in what I think is a total anticlimax. Then this is compounded by yet another case (there are far too many in the Moffatt era) where all the damage done in the episode is undone by a convenient and unconvincing ability to put it all right.

The Doctor has one heart stop at the same time as numerous humans have their hearts stop. The Doctor then survives via his remaining heart long enough for Amy to restart his 2nd heart, which is fine. Some time passes while he goes to confront the threat and defeat it and then he uses the technology in the cubes which stopped people's hearts this time restarting them all. But if people had been left with stopped hearts for the time it took the Doctor to carry out his actions then they would certainly have been extremely likely to be dead or severely ill. Portraying people recovering instantly and the crisis as being averted was a bit daft.

It is interesting that the writer for this episode was future Showrunner Chris Chibnall and features something Chibnall was to be criticised for when he took over - the villain turning out to be disappointing and easy to defeat.

Prior to these poor scenes at the end there was a really good episode. It had the great addition of Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, the new head of UNIT and daughter of the Doctor's old friend Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. It had Rory's Dad, Brian, making another very welcome appearance. He is a great, engaging and funny character.

It had thoughtful scenes of dialogue as the Doctor discusses his travels and where Brian questions the wisdom of Amy and Rory risking their lives. It had the fresh idea of the slow invasion in the kind of world where people continue with their daily lives whilst ignoring a mystery and possible danger in their midst. It had really good production values and acting. It had quite creepy scenes with initial attacks by the alien invaders. It had the cubes themselves which were a fun idea. It had some good funny scenes of humour.

Taking all the positives of the whole episode but acknowledging the slightly silly and unsatisfactory ending I think this is decent but quite unexceptional for Doctor Who standards.

My Rating: 7.5/10.

This Will Not Multiply Your Enthusiasm...

[Xstal · 5/10 · 26 December 2021]

Gradually running out of Bisto, a Pantsdorica episode; no new directions to bestow, a metaphorical commode. The spark has disappeared, time to inject something new; scriptwriters could be sheared, need another point of view. Matt still makes a great Time Lord, Amy Pond is brilliant too; but Rory and his father, add less than zero to this Who.

Poor lazy writing is killing this series.

[doorsscorpywag · 3/10 · 23 September 2012]

Since the dawn of the Moffat era and Matt Smith's sojourn as The Doctor we have seen a steady decline in the quality of the story lines. Russell T. Davies was the man who rejuvinated Doctor Who and Steven Moffat wrote some good episodes during this period. But now at the helm he is overseeing some truly rubbish episodes such as this garbage last night. Smith is doing a decent fist of The Doctor and has brought some interesting qualities to the role but he cannot gloss over the paucity of the scripts he is given to work with. Even the much vaunted Dalek episode was poorly written and next weeks Angels episode is perhaps the last chance to save this series from mediocrity.

The Pond's were decent companions but last night became boring and the sooner we are rid of them the better if this is the standard of story lines we would have with them. Of all the tales during the Moffatt era this was the worst of the lot and even beat the ridiculous Cybermen episode for lousiness.

I think Matt Smith could really do a good job as The Doctor if he was given decent material but the drivel we have been treated to so far under Moffat (with one or two notable exceptions) has him hamstrung.

I have watched Doctor Who since the first episode was broadcast and even through the shaky cardboard sets the series shone. Chris Eccleston and David Tennant gave Matt Smith an excellent platform to present his Doctor but the scripts he has to work with have been mostly lamentable.

Making the best of a bad situation.

[W011y4m5 · 5/10 · 9 December 2020]

Despite somehow being Chris Chibnall's highest rated episode of Doctor Who on IMDb, this is a surprisingly difficult story to review considering the peculiar (& assumedly rare) circumstances of The Power of Three's creation; it's no secret that director Douglas MacKinnon had immense difficulty with actor Steven Berkoff on set (read the trivia page for more details) & thus, the ending had to be substantially reworked & the focus of the narrative had to be shifted in the edit during post production - to accommodate for the lack of usable footage featuring the holographic villain, the Shakri (explaining the rushed, disappointing resolution & the underdeveloped subplots) so considering the fact that fans have never seen the shooting script, we can't actually judge the quality of this - as the final product isn't what any of the creators involved initially intended for it to be when they began filming the Pond's penultimate adventure. Furthermore, with the little information we know, we can only assume the original structure was superior - but that's simply a hypothetical presumption.

One could argue that we should therefore critique the installment based upon how it was released but to do so - knowing of the drama that unfolded behind the scenes - would be akin to analysing an unfinished painting, accounting for the sheer amount that must've been required to have been cut to make this work... So that response isn't productive either.

The only thing we can do is acknowledge how the crew clearly improvised creatively, compiling what they had to construct this installment in the best possible form that they could - with the limitations they'd been unfortunately saddled with thanks to the actions of one needlessly troublesome individual. Hence, even if we disliked this episode, we can't fault it - as we're oblivious as to whether those imperfections (that justify our distaste) were accidental, unavoidable or deliberate.

We can additionally be thankful for the truly great sequences peppered throughout - as there's a lot to love - that did succeed, irrespective of the overall standard which was undoubtedly hampered.

Nostalgiafest Where The Production Team Enjoy Themselves More Than The Audience

[Theo Robertson · 3/10 · 22 September 2012]

I came in to this story knowing very very little about it save for the casting of Jemma Redgrave and Steven Berkoff . The latter is of course one of the worst hams to have been awarded an Equity card . If you watch a film featuring Berkoff everything is going if not splendidly then at least competently until Stevie Luvvie Thespian appears giving the impression that the screen has been invaded by some shouty pantomime dame from the local am dram society . Thankfully for the first time in history Berkoff gives a bearable performance and is confined to a small cameo role . Redgrave is excellent in a role that acknowledges the legend that was Lethbridge Stewart along with other nods to nostalgia

The above paragraph will be the last praise I will give tonight's episode because it's the only aspect that deserves any credit . The Power Of Three of nothing more than self indulgent rubbish and if truth be told I have seen thin air that has more substance . Things start to go wrong immediately when instead of an opening hook we're shown a metafictional montage of Amy's previous adventures . As someone who has endured the eleventh Doctor the last thing this viewer wants or needs is a reminder of how dire the show has become under Moffat

I've previously criticised Karen Gillan at length so I'll stop before it becomes repetitive and it's not entirely right that she gets so much criticism , especially when she's sharing the screen with Matt Smith . I've given him the benefit of the doubt but can no longer keep this opinion to myself - Paterson Joseph would have made a better Doctor . The Doctor here is so zany and hyperactive that I felt myself blushing so profusely I was in danger of starting a fire . Even the worst wooden performances of Joseph would be preferable to what we got from Smith who like everyone else in the cast seems to be having a great time unlike the TV audience

The pacing here is dreadful . For an episode that has absolutely nothing happening for 30 odd minutes it's shocking how rushed the resolution is . Oh the story ends on a big explosion , just like it did during the Pertwee years , an era that had drama , imagery , excitement and a hundred other things the Moffat/ Smith era can only dream of. Can you imagine a Pertwee story where the marriage of Jo Grant and her husband Cliff is far more important than any alien invasion ? Tells you all you have to know about the quantum leap in difference of classic Who and NuWho

A bit better than the previous episode, but still: no.

[laura-bonaventura1 · 5/10 · 25 April 2014]

Mark Williams is a fine actor, but his character, Brian Williams, makes me remember Wilfred Mott (Donna Noble's grandfather) and how I'm missing season 4. During the first part of "The power of three" the Doctor stays at Amy and Rory's place and he's irritatingly hyperactive. Why? Was it supposed to be funny? Fail. Since the season started Rory and Amy left the Doctor at the end of each single episode to enjoy their "normal" life. They both have a job, Amy was a model 2 weeks ago, now she's a journalist (really?) while Rory apparently works more or less 1 day per month. I know it's a sci-fi show but please try to put some logic in it. All the cubes/Shakri idea seems pretty cool, I actually thought it was a two-parts story but no, it ends in a few seconds: silly, I cannot find another word for such a rush.

The year of the slow episodes

[warlordartos · 1/10 · 8 April 2021]

Okay it's 3 in a row now that's just too much for me. Too make things worse even the ending here is about as rushed as it could possibly be, any faster and there would be no ending. No sooner after being introduced to the enemy is the situation resolved.

While not actually worth 1/10 more worth 2-3, I'm giving this 1 because it is rated too high.

The Power of Three

[studioAT · 5/10 · 17 August 2023]

Much like a few Series Seven episodes 'The Power of Three' has a great premise that it never quite delivers effectively.

There's so much set-up here, so much teasing that the cubes will lead to something...and then it's all brought to a conclusion in shudderingly abrupt fashion that makes you wonder what all the fuss was about in the first place.

If they wanted to do an episode about the companions (and I'm sad to say but I do feel like the Pond's have run their race now) trying to juggle being with the Doctor and still juggle their normal lives than fine, devote the time to that, but don't try and do a monster of the week plot at the same time.

It's a shame that Chibnall didn't write Bradley Walsh's character years later half as well as he wrote Brian here.